SpiderTech presented by C10 finalises 2012 roster

Caleb Fairly and Bjorn Selander add WorldTour experience to ambitious Canadian team

Team Spidertech presented by C10 has finalised its 2012 rider roster, with thirteen of this year’s squad returning for the Canadian Professional Continental team. Svein Tuft, the team’s most successful rider of 2011, is departing for the new GreenEDGE team, but WorldTour riders Caleb Fairly and Bjorn Selander – of HTC-Highroad and RadioShack respectively – will add experience of some of the sport’s biggest races to the ambitious team.

The Canadian team – which is the first at this level from the North American country – received invitations to a number of big races in Europe this season, including many spring semi-classics, and hopes to build on this in 2012.

“The experience gained racing in Europe and across North America against the best pro teams in 2011 is invaluable to our riders as we prepare for 2012, said team cofounder Steve Bauer – one of only two Canadian’s to wear the Tour de France yellow jersey – at a press conference in Toronto, Canada. “The success we had as a team in 2011 proved to ourselves and to any skeptics that a Canadian team can race and compete with the best teams and individual riders in the world.”

Among the returning riders are 2010 Canadian road champion Will Routley, 2010 World under-23 bronze medallist Guillaume Boivin, Tour de l’Avenir second place and Giro di Sardegna mountain jersey winner David Boily, and two-time Canadian 2011 under-23 champion Hugo Houle.

Fairly is the final rider from HTC-Highroad to have confirmed a ride for 2012, meaning that all 27 riders from the folding team have found teams. Selander too, is one of the final few riders, forced out by the merger of the RadioShack and Leopard Trek rosters, to secure a berth for next season.

“Pro cycling is a business and strong riders have options to sign with various teams, all teams must market themselves to riders to attract top talent,” said Bauer. “I am thrilled that we were able to recruit Caleb Fairly of Amarillo, Texas, and Bjorn Selander of Hudson, Wisconsin. These riders bring a wealth of international experience and impressive racing resumes.”

2011 was 24-year-old Fairly’s first full year in the pro-peloton, and rode a number of WorldTour races, including the Tours of Catalunya, Pais Vasco, Poland and Beijing; as well as the Ardennes Classics, and the Grands Prix of Québec and Montréal. 23-year-old Selander was in his second year at RadioShack, and completed the Giro d’Italia, as well as a number of other major races.

SpiderTech p/b C10 will depart for Europe in early January for its first training camp of the year, with racing to start later in the month.